


Roses

by plant_boi_potter



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Flowers, Gen, Godric’s Hollow, Oneshot, Theivery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-09
Updated: 2019-09-09
Packaged: 2020-10-13 03:04:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 586
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20575397
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/plant_boi_potter/pseuds/plant_boi_potter
Summary: Excerpt:“If you’re so willing to risk the penance of stealing from my rose bush, the girl had better be pretty enough to warrant it.”





	Roses

**Author's Note:**

> [Awful AU #196](https://awful-aus.tumblr.com/post/116941769918/awful-au-196)  
Enjoy!

Harry had been living in the wizarding world for so long that he almost forgot that he’d once lived at Number 4, Privet Drive. But he could never forget Petunia Dursley’s face. She had more lines than he remembered and her hair was greying but she still wore that sour look that he could never forget. The one that made him feel like a thief. 

His guilt was confirmed when he pulled his hands from the immaculately pruned bush. Well... it had been immaculate. Now the shrubbery disbursed near his feet and he was left exposed and vulnerable. The flowers were still clutched to his chest. 

Petunia glared at him, but made no move to stop him from taking the flowers that he’d already bundled up into a haphazard bouquet. Instead, she unfolded her arms and disappeared back inside the house. 

Harry heard an amount of shuffling before the living room light came on. Oh God... she was about to call the police. But before he could attempt to leave - he’d briefly considered apparating and then remembered how sick it made him - she came back outside. She’d thrown a coat over her nightdress and swapped her slippers for a pair of brown outdoor loafers. 

“Well, come along.” She huffed. All but pulling him along with her as she marched over the threshold of the garden. 

“If you’re so willing to risk the penance of stealing from my rose bush, the girl had better be pretty enough to warrant it.” 

Harry gulped. He clutched the flowers so tightly that his knuckles whitened. He briefly wondered whether he’d pricked himself on the thorns at the stem of the roses. It didn’t matter. It wouldn’t do anything to get him out of this mess. 

“Where are you taking me then? This is a mighty long walk for the middle of the night, is it not? Will she even be awake by the time you get there.” 

“No”, he said shortly. “I didn’t think you’d want to side-along.”

Petunia refused to remember what the words ‘side-along’ implied, instead keeping her eyes to the pavement and her feet stepping decisively onwards - over the cracks in the pavement whenever she could. Whenever Harry wasn’t looking. 

***

Godrics Hollow was unusually familiar- the way the taste of insect larvae is - horribly gruesome to the point of wondering why you tried it in the first place. But there was no turning back now. 

Harry took a breath before stepping over the wall, ignoring the creaking kissing-gate. He didn’t beckon Petunia, figuring she could make her own way through. Since she had decided to join him. He winced as the kissing gate creaked open. 

Harry made his way slowly through the graveyard, barely suppressing his tears as he knelt next to the fading headstone. The plaque was slanted and the earth was uneven. Small divots in the soil were the only sign of life in the place - the only sign that Harry had knelt in the same spot every week for twenty-five years. 

God, had he really been stealing the Dursley’s flowers for that long. Had Petunia really never noticed until now? 

He hadn’t seen her approach until he felt her bony hand on his shoulder. He set the flowers down quietly, sombrely, before turning to face the only link to his mother he had left. Her face was wet with tears as she stared at him. She deliberately stepped away, shielding herself under the old oak tree. 

“I’m sorry I stole your flowers.” He whispered.


End file.
